1 dead in suspected drunk driver crash outside San Jose City Hall
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KTVU/BCN) - It was a terrifying scene outside San Jose City Hall, as a pedestrian is killed Thursday afternoon by a suspected drunk driver. The crash involved three cars including a news van and happened at the intersection of 4th and Santa Clara Streets.
At 8 p.m., the coroner removed the body of a man killed. San Jose Police said he was in front of San Jose City Hall, when just after 4:30 p.m. a white pick-up truck heading southbound on 4th Street crashed into a dark-colored sedan. The truck then hit a pedestrian and a news van.
The pedestrian died at the scene just as a group was gathered outside city hall for a Trump protest.
"It's even more upsetting to realize you have so many pedestrians in a dense area and you have a lot of vehicular traffic and something bad happened here and caused a collision and it's very possible the pedestrian was an innocent victim," said Lt. Lisa Gannon of San Jose Police.
The news van belonged to KGO. The impact was strong enough, it pushed the van forward. The reporter and photographer were both inside the truck when it happened. They were taken to the hospital with minor injuries and are expected to be okay.
It's unclear if the driver of the pick-up truck was speeding, ran a red light or was distracted but police arrested him on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.
"Anytime somebody is traveling on the road and they are impaired horrible things like this happen," said Lt. Gannon.
"It could be anyone walking on the street or crossing the street so it's shocking," said Kaela Angelo of San Jose.
Kaela Angelo is an employee from 4th Street Pizza and was working at the time when she heard the crash.
"We heard the boom," said Angelo. "We just ran out. At firs tI thought it was a regular crash but then you could see it was very scary."
Police blocked the intersection for several hours. The man's death marks the City of San Jose's 40th traffic fatality this year.
"I think it's more important know for people to watch their speed, ensure they are not running red lights because we don't have a full-fledged traffic unit that we used to that did a lot of traffic suppression," said Lt. Gannon.
Police are now reviewing surveillance video from 4th Street Pizza as well as traffic cameras. As for the victim, witnesses said the man appeared to be his 40s or 50s. Police said he was not tied to the Trump protest.